With perfect conditions and strong competition, Ninove, Belgium proved to be a good warm up for Osaka. Stellingwerff dropped down in race distance to run her first 800m of the year. It was successful race for Hilary, as she got the win and a new personal best time of 2:02.20.

Stellingwerff, who has qualified for the 1500m event at the World Track and Field Championships in Osaka, Japan, had spent three weeks training at altitude in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, returning to sea-level just four days prior to the race in Ninove.

“I was pretty pleased with the race considering I have just completed a strong training block in St.Moritz where we tried to mimic the intensity of rounds in Osaka by doing three really hard workouts in a row, so I was a bit tired from that,” said Hilary. “The most important thing is that I feel it was a good prep for Osaka.”

The race was well set-up by the rabbit, as she carried the field out in 58.5 seconds for the first 400m. Hilary was content to sit in second place as they went through 600m in 1:31. “Last time I ran an 800m, I was too aggressive down the backstretch. So this time I just sat and relaxed between 400 and 600m. Unfortunately, I think I relaxed too much, which prevented an attempt at breaking the 2 min mark. But I guess I can’t complain too much with a pb.”

Stellingwerff will get another chance to run 800m again on August 18th in a pre-world championship tune-up meet as part of the Canadian Team's training camp in Singapore.